A look at WWE Elimination Chamber

Elimination Chamber is in the books and we’ve still got a fairly solid direction for where we are going on the road to WrestleMania.

• The Rock successfully defended the WWE championship against CM Punk in a decent match that had a lot of twists and turns (and referee bumps) at the end. Rock, who’s looking a whole lot bigger than the slim, quick, sudden Rock of a year ago, seemed to struggle with the cardiovascular nature of wrestling a guy that caliber of CM Punk, so that might be a concern as he heads into the biggest match of his career, a title match with John Cena in front of 85 or 90,000 plus at WrestleMania. Added to that is that the match is going to be held outdoors, so hopefully that won’t be an issue.

The match served the purpose of pretty much ending Punk’s threat to the title for the time being, which makes me think that Punk probably will be facing Undertaker at WrestleMania. Rock vs. Punk likely did a very good number. I watched the show at the local Buffalo Wild Wings in Wappingers Falls with a group of friends, and I believe we had 15 people, which is fairly indicative of the interest Rock vs. Punk was able to generate. Like his reign or not, Rock is bringing lapsed fans back to the sport, which can only be good for the future business of WWE.

• Alberto Del Rio retained the World Heavyweight Championship in the match against Big Show and in a shocker to some, Jack Swagger (he of the slump-related sabbatical) won the Elimination Chamber in a solid violence-fest.

Del Rio’s match against Big Show was not quite to the level of their gimmick matches, but it was fine. After all the direction changes Del Rio and his character have taken over the last few months, I never really expected that Del Rio would be defending World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, but he is. As for Swagger, his renewed push (and nebulous anti-immigration angle with Zeb Colter, the great Dirty Dutch Mantel), provides the backdrop for a renewed fire in him.

Kane and Daniel Bryan were good in the match, Mark Henry looked scary and dominant. The last three guys in the ring were Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Swagger, and their period together lasted quite a while and was very, very good. Let’s hope this push doesn’t end the way the last one did for the Real American.

Don’t forget that waiting in the wings is Mr. Money in the Bank, Dolph Ziggler, who can still cash in at any time until the next Money in the Bank pay-per-view in July. Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston in an impromptu match on the show.

• The Shield remained dominant and strong and defeated the main-event Superfriends trio of John Cena, Sheamus and Ryback. Seth Rollins, of all people, registered the first ever clean pinfall over Ryback.

I was thinking about The Shield while I was watching them and came up with a theory on what makes this storyline and this push special. First, all of them went through a full course of WWE developmental. Dean Ambrose was there for a year and a half, Rollins for two years and Roman Reigns for two years. Reigns is big and strong and the other two aren’t necessarily. Rollins is an amazing worker and the other two aren’t necessarily. Ambrose is a great talker and the other two aren’t necessarily. As they have worked together, they have each gotten better at the things that aren’t their number-one strength. They are a team. The build for them wrestling has been so slow, that ultimately, the fans want to see them get their comeuppance and maybe even feel like they should have had it already.

The build is also so slow that Elimination Chamber was only The Shield’s second full match in WWE. They were very impressive in both. The stock of The Shield continues to rise.

• As for the remainder of the show, Antonio Cesaro retained the United States title with an unsatisfying low-blow DQ win over The Miz, so that program seems like it will continue. Kaitlyn retained the Divas title in a forgettable match with Tamina Snuka. Brodus Clay & Tensai defeated the reunited Team Rhodes Scholars in a preshow match I’ve only seen highlights of at this point.